Gunman rams vehicle into Michigan synagogue and preschool before being shot dead

"An armed suspect crashed his truck into the hallway of a Detroit-area synagogue where children were attending preschool on Thursday and was shot dead in a confrontation with security personnel, with no one else seriously injured, authorities said.

The attack unfolded during a surge in US antisemitic incidents and in a period of heightened security concerns around Jewish and Muslim places of worship since US and Israeli forces launched airstrikes on Iran on February 28, sparking an intensifying war across the Middle East.

An FBI official said it will investigate the attack as a ‘targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.’ Special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office Jennifer Runyan told reporters the force was leading the investigation.

Michigan State Police reported an ‘active shooting’ incident at Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield, one of the largest synagogues in the US, at about 12:30 p.m. local time (1730 GMT).

The suspect plowed through the building’s doors before being fired upon by the building’s security guards.

‘We can’t say what killed him at this point, but security did engage the suspect with gunfire,’ Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard told reporters. A law enforcement official told Reuters the perpetrator was shot dead.

The attacker was armed with a rifle, AP reported, although it was unclear if he had fired the weapon.

‘He breached the building, drove down the hall, and he was engaged by security,’ Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard told reporters. ‘We can’t say what killed him at this point, but security did engage the suspect with gunfire.’

His motivation remained unclear, police said.

One of the guards was wounded by the vehicle and was expected to recover, and there were no injuries to congregants.

All 140 students at Temple Israel’s early childhood center were safe, the synagogue said in a statement.

The synagogue says it is the largest Reform congregation in the US with more than 3,000 families.

‘We believe there is one individual deceased in the vehicle. It’s been complicated because there was some fire, to say the least, with that vehicle. We believe that individual is deceased,’ Bouchard said.

‘No kids or no staff [were] injured whatsoever, so we have no victims other than one of the lead security people [who] was hit by the car and was taken to the hospital for treatment. That individual should be okay,’ he said.

Other security guards pulled the injured member from the scene.

Everyone in the building appeared to be accounted for. Law enforcement was sweeping the area for potential explosives. First responders had to wear gas masks in the building due to smoke.

Schoolchildren who were at the synagogue had been relocated to a local Jewish Community Center for reunification with their parents, Bouchard said.

‘We want to ensure the community, there doesn’t appear to be anything active,’ Bouchard said, adding that the information was all preliminary and subject to change.

The synagogue later said in a statement that ‘everyone is safe,’ including 140 children from its learning center, and thanked the congregation’s ‘heroic security personnel.’

‘Temple Israel was the victim of a terrorist gunman who was confronted and neutralized by our security personnel who are truly heroes. Our teachers followed their training and kept the children safe and calm,’ the statement said. ‘We wanted you to know we are safe, and we love you all.’

Jewish communities have invested heavily in security in recent years due to antisemitic threats, and many have heightened their state of alert amid fears Iran will seek to retaliate for the ongoing Israeli-American military campaign against the regime with attacks on Jewish targets around the world..."